The sun was rising peacefully over the shimmering river in the early morning. The children slept under the roots whilst Raylan slept on the roots, exhausted from his night watch after Caroline's. He cringed in his sleep holding his hands which were more purple than the previous night.
Suddenly the snapping of a twig made Raylan jump in his sleep. He sat up, hearing a few tweets of birds. He looked down and saw the children still asleep with Bait and Felix. He snuck off, leaping through the trees. He landed gracefully on a bed of grass surrounded by bushes. He glanced around keeping quiet as a mouse. Then he saw a stick snapped in two. He walked over and gently picked it up. Rustling echoed in his pointy ears. He turned around and saw the leaves rustling. He pulled out his swords.
But from out of the bush appeared a harmless deer. He sheathed his weapons away. "Aww, you scared me cutie," he offered a hand and the forest fawn stepped over so he could stroke it. It licked his left purple hand. "Sorry cutie. I'm afraid you can't lick this problem away,"
The deer's ears flicked up in shock and it scurried back into the bushes. "What's wrong?" Raylan asked. Just as he stood up, he saw a large shadow over him. Before he could react, he felt a net of rope falling onto him trapping him. He grunted as he tried to wriggle free. He turned his head around and saw a human high up in the trees. It leapt down and landed right behind him. He wore a hunter's uniform with metal arm and leg armour; he carried a swinging hook with a chain lasso. "Never trapped an elf before. Easier than I thought," He swung his hook to try and stab Raylan but he freed himself and flipped into a stand, pulling out his blades, and facing the human. He leapt into action.
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Unaware of the fight in the forest, the children snored in their sleep, particularly Ezran who sounded like a lazy pig.
Caroline. Caroline. The voice echoed again. You are my destiny.
Caroline's eyes flickered awake to the voice again. He raised her head and rubbed her eyes. She looked at the egg glimmering on the large rucksack. Then it called out to her again; she felt enchanted by its colours. She crawled over and lifted it out of the bag and onto her lap. "Why are you calling to me?" she wondered.
"Carol?" Willow's voice made her jump. "Are you okay?"
Carol turned her sister awake and was surprised. "You gave me a fright there,"
"Why are you holding the egg and staring at it like that?" asked Ezran who sat up too.
Carol placed the egg inside the bag again and looked at her siblings. "The egg's been calling to me. Yesterday when I woke up I heard it calling my name,"
"Why didn't you tell us?' asked Ezran.
"I thought it was just my imagination. But it just happened again. And it said something else. It said, 'You are my destiny'". The siblings blinked. "I know it sounds crazy..."
"Crazy? That's cool actually," praised Ezran ecstatically.
"'Cool'?" repeated Willow back. "Ez, this is serious. I've got a feeling something strange is about to happen. Like...something...good...and...bad," Her instinctive emotions earned her a blink from her elder siblings too; she looked like she was the crazy one now. "Wait a minute. Where's Raylan?"
They all turned their heads to the top of the roots and saw that he wasn't there.
Carol stood up. "Raylan! Raylan!" Felix sniffed around but his scent marks were very weak. "Where did he go?"
"Maybe he went to do the thing?" Ezran offered. The girls were disgusted.
"Guys, I don't think we can fully trust Raylan," Carol said.
"I like him," said her brother.
"I do too. But the thing is he's not telling us everything. I can feel it,"
"Why do you say that?" asked Willow.
"Because his wrist bindings are turning his hands purple. When I asked him what was wrong, he pretended everything was fine when it wasn't. We can't trust him until he tells us the truth,"
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The hunter swung his lasso-hook multiple types of Raylan who back-flipped elegantly out of the way. His attacker leapt him but he fell back and pushed him over with his boots. Leaping back again to his feet, he turned around and saw the attacker giving him a daring face. In the distance between them, he could see the large tree behind them. He couldn't lead the hunter to his friends. The human threw his lasso at him but the elf leapt up into the tall tree with long thick branches. Looking down, he saw his attacker throw the hook again but he cartwheeled out of the way. The human hoisted him up into the tree to a higher branch but Raylan sprinted along the lower branch he was standing on. The human trailed above him and getting closer enough, he threw his hook and it caught Raylan's ankle. He was hoisted up into the air upside down. The human, keeping a firm grip on the chain hoisted him up sawing a branch as a crank.
"Give me King Harrow's children peacefully and I'll let you go," the human ordered. "Release your prisoners!"
"They're not my prisoners!" Raylan answered back. "They chose to come with me!"
That earned a scoff. "Why would they trust you?"
Raylan twisted the air releasing his ankle from the chain and landed on the branch above. "Because they're my friends. I saved their lives," he deflected the hook again.
"'Friends'?" the hunter sneered. "You killed their father!"
"I didn't kill anyone!" Raylan shouted back.
"Your leader did. What's the difference?"
"I tried to stop him from killing the king! And the other assassins too! I'm sorry that King Harrow was killed! It was the high mage they should have killed for killing the King of the Dragons! I'm not your enemy!"
But the hunter wouldn't listen. He launched his hook again and it broke the branch Raylan was standing on, sending him falling. He managed to grab hold of a branch far below but his purple-turning hands were causing him deep agony. He couldn't hold on for very long. He tried to climb up but the human towered over him. "They don't know. Do they," Raylan flipped from under the branch and sent his attacker falling another ranch below. He went dashing through the trees until he came to a giant branch overlooking a great cliff and some lower forest plains.
He heard the cling of the chain.
"When they find out they'll hate you!" the hunter sneered.
"Shut up!" Shouted Raylan.
The hunter launched his hook and it lassoed Raylan's sword as he moved to deflect it. He smirked. But his victory was short-lived when Raylan lassoed his left wrist around the chain and he leapt off the cliff taking the human with him. They crashed through branches and slide down a steep hill. Raylan turned his right butterfly-knife sword into a hook and he managed to slow his slide by digging into the dirt, straining his weakening hand even more. The human went tumbling down and down and down until he crashed into a deep ditch far, far below. He would not be after Raylan any time soon. He stood up, glaring coldly up at the elf. "Saver your victory elf. Next time you won't be so lucky!"
"Says the guy in the ditch!" retorted Raylan. He sheathed his blades and cringed in pain from the strain his hands were going through. He looked at how weakened they were becoming; they didn't have long left.
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The kids packed up their necessities and had some fruit whilst Ezran left the baguettes out. "How long do you guys think we'll need to wait for Raylan?" asked Willow.
Before anyone could answer, Raylan came leaping out of the trees into a forward roll. "Pack up! We're leaving!" he urged.
"What's going on?" Caroline crossed her arms. "Where were you?"
"Can't we finish our breakfast?" asked Willow. "Look at how grumpy Bait is right now," the glow toad groaned.
"There's no time! We have to get moving now!" the elf ordered impatiently.
"But why? You have to explain..." Caroline tried to speak up but Raylan lashed out again.
"I don't have to explain anything. Let's go!" he shoved her knapsack into her hands.
"Fine," she huffed. Felix narrowed his eye in disapproval. Ezran and Willow grabbed their bags and the egg back and left not, forgetting the baguettes they had left behind near the rock.
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Back in the kingdom, Soren was busy doing his community service. He was currently clearing out the horse pens. "Soren," a voice addressed him. "Soren!"
Soren nearly jumped and he saw it was his father approaching him. "Dad," he answered awkwardly.
"Why are you stilling doing community service in the stables?"
"Because the king ordered me to,"
"The king is dead Soren. You're officially relieved of your community service,"
Soren was glad. "Does this mean I can be a Crownguard again?"
"Yes. But first, I have a task for you and your sister. Follow me,"
Soren followed him up some stairs to the castle wall and they stared out into the distance "Okay. Just tell me what my task is with Claudia and I'll see it done,"
"You both are to look for King Harrow's children,"
"Absolutely. Let me just do some slow burn," Soren burnt forward and stretched.
"Your mission is critical to the future of our kingdom,"
"Don't worry dad. Claudia and I will find them,"
"Yes. But there's a bit of nuance to the situation,"
Still, doing his exercises, Soren kept paying attention. "I have no idea what nuance is,"
Rolling his eyes, Viren stepped over closely. "I have a secret mission for you Soren. You are to return with the news that all the children are dead,"
Soren blinked. He stood up straight. "I'm sorry. I didn't quite get that,"
Viren huffed. "You are to return with the news that all of the children are dead. Especially the step-princess,"
Soren blinked at him.
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The urgent forest walks the children into the mountains. They followed a flat gentle road upwards. Felix was quite enjoying it. As much as he loved being with his person, he often longed to be out in the wilds again.
"Hold up," said Raylan suddenly. "This is too easy,"
"No, I think it's the right amount of easy," said Carol.
"I agree," supported her brother.
"No. It's flat and solid. It'll make it easier for anyone we run into to catch us," he gestured to the gentle gradient. "We need to go up that way," he pointed upwards, revealing steep pathways high up in the mountains with pine trees. "Tougher terrain is safer for us. The toughener the better,"
"That'll take longer for us to through these mountains," Carol clarified. "This is already tough enough. My back is aching so much from carrying that egg,"
"Why don't you let me carry it?" His answer was a shake of the head. Raylan huffed and pressed his fists to his hips. "You don't trust me?"
"Na-ah," she look her head; Felix copied her. "None of us trust you because you're not telling us the truth about everything,"
"She's got a point Raylan," supported Willow. "We can't give you the egg if you're keeping secrets. It doesn't work that way,"
Raylan huffed. "Fine. But we're going upwards," he hiked up.
"Nope. We're going this way," Carol started walking ahead with everyone else but Ezran. "What is it, Ez?"
"Guys, I think Raylan's got a point," Ezran said regrettably. "Aunt Amaya might have sent soldiers to find us and we'll have better luck avoiding them if we go upwards,"
His sisters exchanged glances. He was right about this. "Fine," accepted Carol. "But we're not giving you the egg Raylan," his response was a frown.
"Why don't you let carry me the egg?" offered Willow. "Give your back a rest,"
"Thanks, sis," Carol took off the bag and gave it to her sister who exchanged her knapsack with her. "Wanna ride on my back Felix?" her fox jumped for joy and she squatted down to allow him to jump up and cling to her back. The children hiked up behind Raylan.
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Soren stood dumbfounded, staring at his father. "So hold up, if we're to return with the news that King Harrow's children have died, won't that mean we've failed?"
"The coming war will determine the fate of humanity. History has come to a crucial tipping point.
"So you're saying things could go either way?"
"Precisely,"
"Like a see-saw," he cheered.
Viren wasn't impressed. "Yes. History is like...a see-saw," he turned away and stared out into the distance. "If we are strong enough to make the right decisions, humans may finally return to Xadia and take back the great magical lands that are rightfully ours. But if we are led by a child king..."
"He'll make bad choices?"
"He will make weak choices," Viren eyed him with a serious manifestation. "History will tip the wrong way and the forces of Xadia will crush not only Katolis. But all the five kingdoms,"
"Okay. So, I'm supposed to come back with the news that they're dead. What I don't understand is...what I am supposed to do if they're not dead,
"Oh, you'll know what the right thing to do,"
Soren grew more hesitant every second. "The right thing. I...I don't know if I can do that,"
"Out there, in the wild, accidents happen every day. Deadly accidents," Viren gently held up his son's chin. "This won't be easy but you are strong. Now tell no one. Not even Claudia. You must carry this weight alone," he turned his back and walked away. "It will be a burden for me to take the throne. But someday that throne will be yours,"
"Uh, dad..." Soren spoke up again.
With his back still turned, Viren huffed silently.
"I get what you want me to do about Ezran and Willow but what about Caroline? She's not important. She's..."
"A danger. You saw how in that throne room, she took sides with an elf,"
"But she was only trying to protect the king. And the elf..."
"Has used his magic on her to make her think elves are friends. I want you to kill that elf too. Both of them are your top priority. They both go against everything we've fought for to ensure humanity's greatness. Deal with them and you can be a Crownguard again," he walked away leaving Soren where he was, confused and torn.
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After a long high of hiking up the mountain, they came to a spot with lots of rocks. Raylan stretched his arms. "Let's stop and eat. I'm starving,"
Ezran looked into his bag. "Oh no,"
"What do you mean 'Oh no?'?" asked Raylan.
"There's no food," he said awkwardly.
"How could you leave the food?!" lectured Willow angrily.
"He rushed us," he argued, pointing at Raylan.
"So it's my fault?!" the elf criticised.
"Guys!" snapped Carol breaking up the argument. "I've got some apples," she reached into her knapsack and gave everyone at least one. Unfortunately, she didn't get one for Felix. "Here," she offered it to him. He poked it with his nose at her. "No. I'm not that hungry," Felix accepted it and took it.
"Is that all you have?" Raylan incredulously asked. "What else have you got in your bag?"
"My important things,"
"Like what?"
"None of your business," she closed it.
"What are we going to do? We're out of food," Ezran moaned.
"That's your fault for not being responsible," criticised Willow, much to his irritation.
"I'd be willing to share my moonberry juice with you. And I still have plenty," assured Raylan. He reached into his knapsack. "Still had plenty," his bottle was empty. "Who drank it? Who went through my stuff?"
"Don't look at us," Carol defended. "I didn't touch your things,"
"Me neither," Ezran and Willow said together.
"Don't you accuse my Felix either," Carol knew of the cunning nature of foxes but her best animal friend was a charming companion who didn't steal.
"Well, I didn't drink," Raylan frowned at Bait who hiccupped. "Wait. Did that little frog monsters.." he growled.
"Bait wouldn't do that!" Ezran stood up. "You have no reason to think..." he was interrupted by a hiccup earning a colder frown from the elf. "Don't accuse him!"
"Look at how he's glowing!" Raylan dangerously eyed the glow toad which glowed blue and red.
"Well, Bait glows in different colours depending on his emotions," Carol said intelligently. "He's probably in one of his moods,"
"He has one colour when he's lonely. Or he glows another way if he's hungry," added Ezran. "Or angry. Or hangry,"
"It means when you're angry that you're hungry," translated Carol.
"I know what it means," scoffed Raylan; he didn't like to be outsmarted like that. "So, tell me, what does that colour mean?"
Ezran knelt in front of Bait. "Hmm. Actually, I've never seen him glow that way before," he tapped his finger against his chin. "Kind of a reddish, purplish...berry colour," Bait burped and his breath tasted fruity. "Yeah. He did it," he gave in.
Raylan scoffed and stalked ahead. Carol frowned behind him, irritated with his temper.
"I think he's hangry," Willow whispered to her older siblings.
"I absolutely hurious!" roared Raylan. "Now come on!" he stomped ahead.
"His temper's getting on my nerves," growled the youngest princess as they followed behind him.
They hiked higher and higher upwards, treading through deep snow. Bait got so tired, he grabbed onto Ezran's backpack with his teeth so he would be pulled up. It was getting a little colder. Willow sneezed and she nearly toppled backwards, losing her balance but Carol caught her and steadied her. The elder sister pulled out a scarf and tried it around her sister's neck. "There you go,"
"Won't you be cold?"
"Oh. I'll be fine. I've my scarf already," she stroked Felix's face as he lay over her shoulders and around her neck like a furry scarf. He purred and he nuzzled her face.
"Don't fall behind!" Raylan shouted metres ahead. As an elf, he was faster, stronger, and held more stamina than them. The children tried to keep up with him but they were worn out. He rolled his eyes and walked back to them.
"Raylan, can we please just stop and rest?" begged Ezran. "It's getting a lot tricky,"
"No. We are not stopping," the self-proclaimed elven leader said.
"Raylan come on!" argued Carol. "You're the one who made us take this crazy route,"
"I need to catch my breath," Willow collapsed on her legs and took the bag off. Her brother and sister sat beside her.
Raylan growled again and walked back to them again. "Hey. Why are we stopping here?"
"The egg is so heavy and this mountain is so high. We need to take a rest," said Carol.
"There is a solution you know," the elf pointed out. "You can just give me the egg," the children ignored him. He was getting angrier every second. "You know I can just take it from you! I could have run off with it nights ago! But I didn't!"
"Doesn't mean we can trust you," Carol stood up on her feet. "If you want our trust, you need to start being honest with us,"
"I could take that egg you know! I could have all the glory I want if I went to Xadia by myself! But that egg has to come from all of you!" Raylan's voice was echoing across the valley below.
"If you're really our friend Raylan...then prove it," Carol crossed her arms. "Tell us why you rushed us and why you keep hiding your hands like that. What's wrong with you?"
"I don't need some step-princess telling me what I can or can't keep secret!"
Caroline's heart was struck hearing him speak like that to her again. She frowned with wet eyes and stalked ahead taking Felix with her, taking her bag with her.
"That's right Caroline. Run away. Run away!" Raylan shouted. "That's what you do best! Just like back in Katolis!" His shoutout was suddenly interjected by a large snowball to the head. He turned around to see a fuming Ezran, Bait and Willow. "Did you two just....?" a snowfall struck his face. "How dare you all attack me with snowballs?" He got another one, this time by Willow.
"How could you talk to her like that? You're such a jerk Raylan!" Willow scolded. "And what right did you have to call Carol that awful name?"
"So what? She's not your dad's daughter! We all know you two are Harrow's biological children. She's not as important to royal as you two. My people and I know she's not valuable to the kingdom like you two are,"
Ezran fumed and stamped up on his feet. "This is exactly why she ran away in the first place," he ranted. "Everybody disrespected her just because she wasn't our dad's daughter by blood. They said she was an embarrassment to our family because she liked to do things that everyone thinks a princess shouldn't do,"
"They made her feel like she didn't belong with us despite all the amazing things she's done for us, for dad," Willow lamented. "When we lost our mother it broke dad's heart and we were too young to grieve for her or remember her but it was Carol who was the most devasted. She's felt alone for nearly ten years because nobody tried to see how important she was to us, how amazing she truly is. She doesn't deserve to be called that selfish name,"
Their words had a deep impact on Raylan. In a spark of regret, he realised how temperamental he had been and how awful he was just now to Caroline – a girl who had suffered so much mistreatment just because she was adopted into royalty. He saw her up ahead wiping her face and hiked up after her. He managed to catch up. She heard footprints but didn't turn around. Felix saw him and blew a raspberry at him. He ignored him. "Carol..." he tried to speak up.
"Don't you dare talk to me," Carol shattered, refusing to look back at him.
"I'm sorry,"
"Don't bother. I'm used to people treating me badly,"
"It was so uncalled of me to..."
"I said 'Don't talk to me!" Carol's loud voice echoed over the mountains. Ice cracks began spreading.
Ezran and Willow who had managed to catch up noticed the cracks high above them, spreading rapidly through the ice. Before Raylan could move his lips, they shushed him loudly. Their sister glanced at them and they pointed upwards. They looked up and saw the ice fractured, tiny bits raining down. "We have to be very, very quiet," whispered Willow. "Or an avalanche will fall and we'll be buried under snow,"
They nodded and kept walking forward slowly. Bait stayed closely behind Ezran. Then all of a sudden, he released a very loud burp. The group jumped and so did the hearts in their chests. They felt the entire valley shaking around them. The ice crackled quickly. A loud rumble shook the mountain. Clouds and masses of unstoppable snow and ice plunged on the party.
"Run!" screamed Carol.
They ran downwards, using gravity to help them get down as far as possible. During the running, Ezran and Willow suddenly slipped and they went tumbling down the pathways landing face-first into the snow.
Carol saw them fall back. "Guys!" she cried out. She tried running up to them but Raylan reached them first. Pulling them up on their feet with his purple hands, the bindings tightened and he cried in pain.
"Raylan," Ezran said in concern. "Your hands,"
"Don't worry about me!" he shouted. "Just run!" he pulled them down the mountain right behind their sister.
But Carol looked back and saw the avalanche closing in on them fast. They couldn't outrun it; an idea popped into her head. She stopped running.
Raylan saw. "Why aren't you running?"
"Everyone get behind me!" she ordered.
Everyone crowded behind her. Pulling out her primal stone, she drew a ruin in the air. "Aspiro!" she blew with all her might and as the avalanche attacked them, the snow was deflected by the powerful wind, saving them.
Raylan and the siblings stayed close together; he watched as the mage princess blew as hard as she could. But she couldn't do it for long. He stared around, trying to find a solution. He saw some rocks leading up to a higher platform. "I've got a plan. Carol, move right!"
Listening to him, Carol moved to the right, keeping the avalanche at bay. They positioned themselves near the rocks.
"Climb up!" Raylan urged Ezran, Willow, and Bait to climb up to safety. They did just that. The blowing spell slowed and he saw Carol's face about to lose breath. HE climbed up onto the rocks. "Come on Carol!" but she kept blowing. "I'm sorry for what I said but you gotta climb up now!"
Listening to him, Carol gave it all she could as she lost her breath, she leapt up and managed to grab Raylan's outreached purple hand. He cringed in pain and tried to pull her up but his aching fingers slipped. "Carol!"
Carol managed to grab onto a piece of rock but she was hanging over the avalanche. Felix clung tighter, smacking his eyes over his ears; terrified. Bait closed his eyes unable to watch.
"Carol! Grab my hand!" Willow reached down and outstretched her hand. "Just grab hold!"
Heaving with all her might, Carol passed her up her primal stone and then tried to reach for her hand. But just before Willow could pull her up with Raylan's assistance, the avalanche rose higher and she was pulled with the snow taking Willow with her.
"No!" Ezran tried to jump after them but Raylan held him, back shaking his head sadly. They could do nothing but watch as the avalanche carried his sisters away from them.
The last colours the princesses saw were white and then black and then nothing; they blacked out.
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That's another chapter done. What did you think of all the new dialogue and new changes I added to the first half of this episode? I hope you all enjoyed it. Please send reviews and let me know what you all thought. Also, could you all send ideas for Season 4 and also your opinions of the season and what could happen in the next few seasons? It would be most helpful. See you all later this week.